Chapter 108

Unsung Heroes Epilogue

-:-

3 days later

A mysterious ship in the middle of an unknown sea

A ship the size of a fancy pleasure cruise slowly cut through the foggy waters. It was jet black and lacked any form of modern equipment you’d normally see on a ship that size.

In fact, the ship seemed to be producing the fog that plagued the seas around it.

10/10 individuals who saw it for the first time would instantly label it as ‘Ghost Ship’

Even the highly experienced Miss Samantha felt like she stepped into a horror film when she and her group approached the black ship.

Stepping onto the ship was a very sharp contrast to the exterior.

The interior was an excessive display of wealth.

Vases, statues, curtains, paintings, etc of the highest quality possible.

Largely impractical by the standards of Miss Samantha’s group, but it was a clear indication that the person they were meeting was that of a very high rank.

Even the armed guards that patrolled the ship were decked out in gaudy equipment.

Full plate armor with finely crafted heraldry, golden masks and halberds encrusted with jewels.

And here’s the kicker, all of said equipment were magic items.

At the moment, Miss Samantha was in a large dining hall with the Lord of Vermillion, Alial Milza and Du Al Ryien.

Naturally, they bought their own respective bodyguards with them.

Keeping in line the overly extravagant theme, the food served was that of 5 star restaurants.

Steak with fancy plating and artistic flare.

Fine wine that dated back to the 1100s.

Cakes of intricate artistry that would make anyone be reluctant to eat it.

“While we dine, I would like to express my gratitude for the assistance. Your timely assist was most appreciated” said Du Al Ryien to Lord of Vermilion, the physically youngest of their group.

“No problem. An enemy of my enemy is my friend after all. And besides, they’re an ally of my enemy. Helping you means hurting them. We all benefit from this” replied Lord of Vermillion as he stuffed his face with cake.

Quite a funny sight, especially when you realize that Lord was one of the major players in the bloody game for dominance of Vermilion City.

“Good to hear. Though I must wonder, how did the Elves knew of my presence there?” asked Du Al Ryien “I thought I did a good job hiding myself. I even went as far as not bringing any of my guards”

“It’s probably the FNN via the Hero Alliance. You’d be surprise how many ‘inside sources’ they have in the Hero Alliance. If the Superheroes catch a whiff of you, odds are the FNN did too.”

“*sigh*.... Humans in this realm are so complicated.” replied Du Al Ryien. “I do hope to speak with this Theodore Lorne in the near future. Though he knows not about it, he did do me a great service.”

“That can be arranged in due time” said Lord

This might sound ironic, but the whole Theo-VS-Elves incident was a result of an unfortunate case of collateral damage.

The origin of this incident had nothing to do with the Science-VS-Magic debate.

It was nothing more than a hitjob by the elven warriors on one of the most influential drows in existence.

A typical fantasy race war. Nothing more, nothing less.

As stated in the past, Du Al Ryien was looking for reliable allies in this realm in hopes to boost the drow’s numbers in an upcoming war against the elves.

Unfortunately, due to the stubborn pride of the Dread Queens of the Undertide that they need no helping hand, Du Al Ryien’s repeated request to traverse the realms was only recently been approved.

Naturally, it was nearly too late.

All the reliable ones had already been seduced by the Elves through various means.

They even used folk tales and strategic marriages to secure a constant stream of ‘volunteers’.

The elves have been doing this since 1000 AD via the Norscan Mythology. The idea was to solidify the belief in this world that ‘Elves= Good. Drow= Evil

Naturally, this was a lie because both races were both Good and Evil.

And now that Du Al Ryien was attempting to challenge the Elven monopoly of this world, they were obviously not going to take it lying down.

To do this, Du Al Ryien approached the only true friend he has made in this realm for help.

And that was Alial Milza

Using the Human Evolution talk tour as an excuse, Alial volunteered to take Du Al Ryien around the world. Maybe the drow could find a few interesting individuals to recruit.

Though small in numbers, Du Al Ryien was able to secure some allies.

While he could probably approach the truly evil side and get tons of violent criminals to the drow’s side without much effort, he doubted that they were reliable enough to actually follow the drow’s orders.

They might even be a liability.

As such, Du Al Ryien limited his headhunting to those who were either Good or Neutral in alignment.

A tall order given how horrible the Drow’s reputation was in this realm.

“Since we’re on the topic of Theodore Lorne, I was wondering if revealing himself to that Crow person was a wise choice? Based on what I saw via my familiars in the scene, that Crow person was someone who would use blackmail to win” Asked Alial Milza as he pointed the small mysterious floating eyeballs in the ceiling.

“Is that an Ancient Beholder?!” asked Lord with great interest

“Indeed. It was a regular Beholder when I first got my hand on it. Look at it now. Quite an impressive specimen” replied Du Al Ryien

“Impressive indeed.” Lord nodded with enthusiasm. ” Anyways, Miss Samantha can answer your question.”

Miss Samantha cleared her throat before speaking

“At first, I thought Theo got careless and completely forgot about that big reveal. I was about to bitch slap him for his stupidity. However, much to my surprise, he actually called in a cavalry of mythical proportions” boasted Miss Samantha.

“Suspense is bad for my age. Just tell me of this cavalry.” replied Alial

“A little bird told me that Crow was visited by Korlo Nosferatu. What I would do to see that face of hers.” said Miss Samantha with a chuckle.

Apparently, after the Crow trio and other responding superheroes eliminated the 3 meter Giant, Nosferatu was waiting for Crow in her secret lair.

The talk between the S ranked superhero and the monster of apocalyptic power was predictable enough.

Nosferatu’s threat was this: ‘If you expose Theo’s identity to the Hero Alliance and to the world, then you, your company, your loved ones and even your dog will be at the receiving end of the might of the most powerful vampire in the world’

Aside from the usual threat of death and dismemberment, Nosferatu also threatened Crow that her identity will be exposed as well.

While Omegaman was considered as the greatest Superhero of all time, the vast majority of villains considered Crow as a far greater threat.

Exposing her identity would not only unleash a torrent of violence against her and her allies, the employees of the Rouge Beauty Inc would most certainly be butchered just to spite her.

If Crow exposed Theo’s identity, she would be dooming hundreds of thousands of lives in the process.

A simple yet perfect checkmate.

If push comes to shove, will Theo and Nosferatu really follow through with the threat?

That was debatable.

Nosferatu would probably do so.

While the immortal vampire was generally likable if you ignored his outer appearance, it did not mean that he viewed humans and lesser beings as equals.

Aside from a select few that has actually proven themselves worthy to be viewed as equals to the Progenitors, Nosferatu wouldn't bat an eye if he caused the death of millions of innocent lives.

Like a sadistic kid who blew up his pet frogs with firecrackers just for the heck of it, Nosferatu and all of the Progenitors viewed humanity the same way.

Pets are pets after all.

Theo was another matter.

Despite his rising body count, many acts of brutality and multiple violations of human rights, he had a firm conviction of not harming the ones that do no harm.

However, it doesn't mean that he was not against drastic measures.

His position in the mass murder of thousands of innocent lives depends on how desperate his situation was.

“Nosferatu is Vermillion?! Is he still there?” asked Du Al Ryien with excitement.

“Yes and yes. He’s currently staying in Theo’s company building. It’s weird how excited Nosferatu was. Apparently, it was like those sleepovers in the movies.” replied Miss Samantha

“*sigh*... Immortals….” said Alial with a wryly smile.

“Boredom is the enemy of those who have limitless amounts of time.” replied the embarrassed Du Al Ryien “Anyways, given how Nosferatu and Theodore Lorne is in one place, maybe I should pay both of them a visit?”

“Hmm… Maybe I’ll join you” said Lord

“Huh? Why?” asked Miss Samantha in confusion.

“I think it’s time to officially invite him into our merry band of misfits. After all, he has successfully achieved something that we have been trying and failing to do. To get the Vermilion City Police on our side.”

The Vermilion City Police, at least the good ones, were widely praised as one of the best law enforcement agencies in the world.

Their skills at taking down superpowered individuals were legendary.

This was the main reason why most of the criminal activities were done outside of their sphere of influence.

They were also known to be incorruptible.

No money, promotion, demotion or any threat would stop them from doing their job to protect and serve.

Even the bashing they get from the news and the delusional minority would not faze them.

As such, Lord’s attempts to get in good with them has failed time and time again.

Fortunately, the other masterminds in the city were experiencing this as well, with the FNN faction performing the poorest in this department.

Yet Theodore Lorne has done it in a span of a few days.

Unintentionally, yes.

But that didn't change the fact that he and the Vermilion City Police had come to a state of mutual respect.

The program that sealed the Vermilion City Police’s loyalty to Theo was the ‘Unsung Heroes Plan’.

If a police officer of good moral character was horribly injured in the line of duty, Theo’s company would give them a 90% discount in the best cybernetics they had on hand.

The police officer will be charged 10 Rooks a month until he pays off the cybernetic implants.

The 90% discount also extended to any future purchases the police officer would make, be it upgrade or replacements.

Naturally, Theo’s overly generous customer support was included.

With such support openly being thrown at the Vermilion City Police, how could they not love Theo?

FYI: when the Unsung Heroes Plan was discovered by the media, the bashing Theo’s company received was surprisingly minor.

Miss Samantha might have something to do with that.

FYI#2: every last one of the cybernetics given to the Vermilion City Police were bugged by the usual listening devices Theo placed in all of his products.

“As you can see, Theo has made unbelievable headways in a short span of time. He may be a minor force now, but who knows what will happen in a few years time. I rather have this young man as a friend and not as an enemy” said Lord as he licked the icing from his plate.

“True enough. I for one have no complaints with the kid. I did train him after all.” said Miss Samantha with a smile of a mother who took pride at her son. “And I think it's fairly obvious that the Doctor is quite fond of Theo.”

“Then it’s unanimous.” Lord then turns to Du Al Ryien. “If you’re planning to visit Theo and Nosferatu, we’ll be joining you.”

“Hahaha. Good to know. More allies is always better” replied Du Al Ryien

“Indeed. Maybe me and Lorne can enter into a business partnership while we’re at it. I do admire the young man’s work.” added Alial

“And let’s not forget that this child may be a disciple of the mysterious Machine God.” said Du Al Ryien with a serious face.

“Well said my drow friend. I’ve been looking for a chance to meet an actual God. To think my life long goal could be this close to completion.” replied Alial with the sigh of an old man.

As the 2 began talking about gods and what not, Miss Samantha and the Lord of Vermilion had a very stiff smile plastered on their face.

To think these individuals who sat at the top of their given field, would be so gullible.